Boulder County Activists Concerned About Flooded Oil, Gas Wells

Photo: Cliff Willmeng

"Inundated along with roads, bridges, houses and farms are thousands of oil and gas wells and associated condensate tanks and ponds in northeast Boulder County and southwest Weld County.
Anti-fracking activists say the industry needs to account for what types of chemicals may be contaminating soil and groundwater in the area around these wells."

Read article from the Boulder News here.

Not much is being reported about these floods in regard to gas and oil wells.  Why?

New Photos: Leroy, NY, Toxic Spill Site

Man charged in spill near PA gas-drilling site (With Update)

You can read all about it here. (There's a picture here which says it ALL.)

In essence, a Georgia man has admitted to PA State Police that he dumped approximately 800 gallons of dangerous materials from a Bradford County gas well site onto  state game lands early Thursday morning.  He now sits in a West Burlington correctional facility with bail set at $100,000.

The discovery was made by a man as he pulled out of his driveway and saw the pool of viscous black liquid.  It was described as a gooey, black material which was about 3 inches deep, covering approximately 100 X 30 feet.  The man who discovered the problem said he believes the liquid was dumped Wednesday night.

Tire tracks likely tell the story, he said. What it looks like to me is a tanker truck pulled out in there.  It looks to me like they were going to go out into a field and dump, and they got stuck, so they just dumped it there and just left.

This will be happening more and more in gas fields everywhere.

Latest Update:  (12/03/2011)
http://thedailyreview.com/news/cleanup-continues-of-dumped-sludge-in-state-gamelands-in-bradford-county-1.1240352

Another Truck Overturns, Spills Fracking Fluid in PA

A tractor trailer carrying an acid used in hydrofracking overturned around midnight in North Mahoning Township, Indiana County, PA.  Another sharp turn in a road- perhaps driving too fast?  Nine of the ten of the containers on the truck started leaking along with diesel fuel.  Ten houses were evacuated.

When is this going to stop?  Truck accidents are too common.  The driver was injured and taken to a hospital. Imagine being awakened at midnight by a knock on the door and told you must get out.  Scary and a rude awakening for sure.

Click here to read the original article.

PA DEP Says: "We can't tell you yet..."

Towanda Creek was contaminated by this spill.
Photo credit: Don Williams

Remember the 30,000 gallons of wastewater that spilled at the Atgas 2H well in Leroy Township, Bradford County, PA, April 19th?    PA DEP sent a violation notice to Chesapeake Energy demanding answers.  The deadline for a response from the gas company was April 29th. However, DEP spokesman Daniel Spadoni said:

We are not making this information available at this time as we need to carefully examine it as part of our on-going review of the blowout.

Chesapeake Energy is supposed to supply information as follows:

1)what chemicals and other materials were used at the well, 2)what failed at the wellhead and caused the spill, 3)what exactly spilled into the environment, and 4)why it took Chesapeake 12 hours to bring a well control specialist to the site from Texas when a similar firm is located in Pennsylvania.

In my opinion, chemicals used during fracking should be right on the computer and should therefore be available at any time for any reason.  Many of these chemicals are toxic for humans, animals, and plants.  We should know what we have been exposed to without waiting for weeks.  Are we being kept in the dark unnecessarily?

Read the article from the Towanda Daily Review here.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

PUBLIC DISCLOSURE IS A MUST!

Leroy (PA) Well Spill: Update?

Here is an excerpt from the Daily Review article published today:

Progress has been slower than anticipated due to the adverse weather conditions that were experienced throughout the weekend, hampering work efforts, according to Chesapeake spokesperson Brian Grove.

The Atgas 2H has remained in stable condition since late Thursday and is expected to continue in this state through final preparations.

Katy Gresh, community relations director for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, reported that DEP personnel remained on the scene Monday, testing the water of Towanda Creek, as well as an adjacent tributary, and where Towanda Creek empties in the Susquehanna River in Wysox 16 miles away. Gresh reported that not all testing results are back yet from the scene, but no adverse effect has been detected at this time.

My questions are several.

•  Do gas drillers NOT realize that Pennsylvania has actual weather which can actually be adverse, especially in winter and spring?
• What is "stable condition"?  Is this like a report on a sick patient who is expected to pull through given time?  Does it mean that no more spillage is occurring?
• What are "final preparations"?   Is that like getting ready to kill and bury this well?
• Why is a premature report of "no adverse effect detected at this time" even put in print?  This statement can conveniently be lifted out of context and reprinted anywhere, possibly giving people the impression that this actually caused no adverse effect at all.  Once people read that, they can feel free to go back to their lives and forget about it.  It leads to a false security which can be deadly. 

Another way to put it is this:  Media can create a baseless sense of optimism, and worse, a belief that spills and blowouts are fixable.

  When accidents happen at gas wells,  reports so often use wording like this, very vague and also bordering on or actually misleading the public.  Readers want to believe that there were no adverse effects of 30,000 gallons of frack fluid spilling out on the ground and flowing out over farmland and into streams and rivers.  We know in our heart of hearts that such a wish will not be granted in the real world.  But when the media provides only general information based on very little actual fact, or at least not enough facts, it is a disservice to us all. Will the public take the time to follow up and keep abreast of what is happening, or will people just console themselves that all is well because they saw an article in the paper or, for that matter, heard an interview on NPR?
 
LINK

FRACCIDENTS HAPPEN

Frack Spill in Leroy, PA: Press Conference in Towanda

Chesapeake Energy - Frack Spill in Leroy, PA from Melissa Troutman on Vimeo.

Attorney Todd O'Malley held a press conference outside Chesapeake Energy's office in Towanda, PA following a hydraulic fracturing flowback fluid spill that leaked toxins into a nearby waterway and led to the evacuation of seven families. Many people whose private water wells have been contaminated and who've had health problems due to contamination were present to share their stories.

Protest in Towanda (PA) April 22nd

God bless the people of Bradford County and others who stood in solidarity on Friday, Earth Day, across the road from Chesapeake Energy's headquarters in Towanda, PA, to protest the environmental and human costs that they have suffered from the gas industry so far.  We stand with them.

More on this event from The Morning Times (Sayre)....

Frack Spill in PA (Woodward Township) Accident

Residents near frac truck crash awaiting tests of well water, soil

February 23, 2011 - From staff reports

SWISSDALE - A cluster of residents near the horseshoe curve along Coudersport Pike in Woodward Township are awaiting the results of tests of their well water and soil following the weekend crash of a tank truck hauling frack water from a natural gas well site. The truck was full of frack water when it tipped over on the curve at Berry Lane and plowed through guardrails, spilling its load and injuring the driver, finally identified Tuesday by township police as Richard Hollabaugh, 41, of Morrisdale.

The truck was heading to another well site in Lycoming County and was hauling what officials called filtered frack or flush water about 10:45 p.m. Friday night. Since then, Berry Lane resident Rebecca Dunlap and her family - among the closest to the spill - are not drinking water from their well.

The crash, the second within nine months at the curve involving a gas industry vehicle, was unnerving. Upon hearing the crash, Rebecca said she ran outside to discover the driver, who was trapped in the truck's cab. "I immediately talked to the driver and he was alert. We're thankful he is fine and has been discharged from the hospital," she said.  "I immediately noted water flowing out of the tank," she recalls, so she asked the driver if it was fresh or frack water, and "he said fresh." "I think that maybe his definition of fresh water is different than mine," she said. "I could smell that it was not fresh water."

Emergency crews responded quickly upon receiving calls to the 9-1-1 center. The driver had to be extricated from the cab and was taken to Lock Haven Hospital for treatment, according to township police investigator Miles Houseknecht.

It was early the next morning when the truck was pulled up from the bottom of the embankment and towed away. After being notified, the response by the state Department of Environmental Protection; the owner of the truck, A&A Construction of Clarence; along with officials from Anadarko Petroleum Corp., whose well the truck was serving, also was very quick, she said.  "My husband called the DEP and they responded immediately and identified it as frack water. He said it was 9 percent, but I don't quite understand what the 9 percent referred to," she explained.

The DEP estimates between 3,400 and 3,600 gallons of frack water leaked from the truck. The spill is within about 200 feet of her well, she estimated. "That's concerning. We had our well water tested last year, almost one year to the date, in fact, so that we have a baseline water quality data," she said.  And while her well is on a slight upslope from the spill, she explained, "hopefully, most people understand that geology doesn't have to follow surface contour." 

"I have to say that I contacted Anadarko myself and they immediately called back, insuring they would look into the situation."

Dunlap subsequently arranged for a neighborhood meeting Saturday afternoon, attended by 10 surrounding property owners, three staff members from Anadarko and three from A&A Construction.  Among those attending were Ralph and Cathy Padilla, who live across Route 664. They also are not drinking water from their well for fear of contamination.  Ralph said the truck knocked down power lines, something he noticed upon running to see if the driver was OK. We cleared everyone out of the area after the driver said he was OK but that he was trapped," Ralph said.  Ralph said he also noticed the water leaking from the tank truck.

A&A hired a consultant, GEF, and a respresentative took samples from water wells, then came back and took soil samples, Rebecca said.  "That's where this stands. We're waiting for preliminary analyses from the samples. They'll tell us what they found and we'll go from there," she said. "In the meantime, we're not drinking the water, of course." The family is buying its water for consumption and "Anadarko told us to keep the receipts."

Dunlap said the test results could be available as early as today. The initial report that the truck did not leak water was a "miscommunication," Rebecca surmised.  "We had a huge snow melt Friday and maybe that's why" it was initially unclear to certain emergency responders whether water from the tri-axle truck spilled from its tank, she thought.

This morning, Anadarko issued the following statement, "The safety and well being of these families is our priority, and we are working with the service provider to take action by providing drinking and cooking water, while water sampling is under way. A&A Construction, Inc. has hired independent experts to conduct the sampling on water wells and soil under the supervision of the Pennsylvania DEP."

It was last June 22 when a Florida man driving a tri-axle flatbed truck and hauling a pickup truck crashed through the same guardrail at the horseshoe curve again, right next to Rebecca's home - after coming from a drill site north of Woodward Township. The driver was trapped in the truck for nearly two hours before being freed from the wreckage and taken to a hospital for treatment. That truck was hauling "drill steel" at the time.

LINK  Drilling Concerns
LINK  to article above

"Minor Spill" Reported in Bradford County, PA

A "minor spill" occurred  on Saturday, February 12, 2011, at a Talisman well pad near Alba, Bradford County, PA.  A spill of 1-3 barrels of frack flowback water was discharged (sprayed) onto the snow according to Daniel Spadoni of the PA DEP.  This sounds so innocuous.  However, it is the cumulative effect of all the minor spills and the major spills that will eventually cause a lot of damage.  Gas companies minimize the scope of these accidents.  I think we need to be very concerned about every one of them.

Here is the link to the Daily Review article.
LINK

Another Wastewater Spill in West Virginia

A tanker truck carrying drilling wastewater in Brooke County, West Virginia, spilled 500 gallons of the extremely slick brine October 13th.  The spill covered nearly three miles of heavily traveled roadway, turning it into a very hazardous road, so slippery it was like a layer of black ice. The tanker came from a nearby natural gas drilling site.  It was reported that the driver of the truck had no idea his truck was leaking.  Apparently other motorists saw the leak and called 911.

LINK

My question:  Even though the EMA director said the brine is not considered a major environmental threat, he did say that the clean-up crews didn't know all of the chemicals they were dealing with.  If we don't know what is in the brine, how can anyone say it is not an environmental threat? 

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

Natural Gas Truck Spills Chemicals in Hughesville, PA

HUGHESVILLE - A truck carrying chemicals from a natural gas drilling site spilled a friction-reducing fluid along Routes 118 and 220 Friday afternoon, in Lycoming County forcing police to close sections of roadway for cleanup. The spill posed no environmental hazard, but crews were worried about the safety of the roadway as it was very slippery. PennDOT and police kept the road closed while crews figured out how to remove the mess.

Jim Diehl (WGRC)
 
LINK

My question:  Why hasn't this incident which occurred on October the 8th been reported in the Towanda Daily Review or the Rocket-Courier?  

DEMAND  ACCOUNTABILITY!

In memory of The Rev. Robert F. Shippee

1922-2010

He opposed the gas drilling industry to his dying day.

Marcellus Shale Gas Blowout in North Central PA: Reporter Is Threatened With Being Shot and Arrested

Enjoying a boat ride on the Western Branch of the Susquehanna River, Clearfield County, Central Pennsylvania

Michael Morrill reports at The Daily Kos that he was threatened and told he might possibly be shot and/or arrested if he didn't leave.  He was trying to investigate the gas well blowout last week in Clearfield County, PA .  Read his astounding account of what happened to him when he showed up during the clean-up with a Flip camera.  The extent to which several gas employees pursued and harrassed him is quite surprising.  We should all know that this is happening. Here is an excerpt from Morrill's diary:

They told me that I was on property owned by Punxsutawney Hunt Club, and the members didn't appreciate trespassers They told me, in a veiled threat, that I should leave now, and as long as I was heading out I would probably not get shot.

Read a related article here.  "PA halts drilling by company after gas accident"

I Was Thirsty, So I Poured a Glass of Water and Drank It: I Didn't Know It Was Bad!

It was a simple thing. Pouring a glass of water from the faucet at Ned Prather's cabin near DeBeque, Colorado. Ned was thirsty, so he drank the water fast- right down the gullet. He drank about two thirds of the water when he began to feel strange.

His throat burned. His head pounded. His stomach hurt. He felt like he was going to suffocate.

Tests would later show the water from a spring he has drank from for decades was heavily contaminated with a carcinogenic and nervous system-damaging chemical stew known as BTEX- benzene, toluene, ethylbenzine and xylene. This was reported in an article in the October 11th issue of the Denver Post. BTEX and other volatile organic compounds come to the surface from oil and gas wells. [ For information on chemicals used in the gas drilling industry, click here.] The Endocrine Disruption Exchange did an analysis in 2007 which listed 245 chemicals used in natural gas development and delivery, 92% of which have one or more adverse health effects, the most common being skin and sensory organ toxicity, respiratory problems, neurotoxicity, and gastrointestinal and liver damage.

Last year, according to the Denver Post article, there were 206 spills in Colorado connected to or suspected in 46 cases of water contamination. This calls into question those who claim there has NEVER been a case of water contamination reportedly caused by gas drilling activity. In fact, since 2003, there have been around 300 cases in Colorado. What causes this contamination? Records show BTEX has seeped into water wells when gas well casings give way.

Eighteen wells are located within 3,000 feet of Mr. Prather's spring. An abandoned sludge pit of bad smelling production water sits on one hill above his cabin. The winter before his spring became contaminated, there was a huge diesel spill caused by a spigot accidentally left on. There are pipelines buried all over the hillsides near his cabin, some as old as three decades. Read more on pipelines here.

No one can accuse Ned Prather of being anti-gas drilling. He and his three brothers used to work for Occidental Petroleum, a company which is ironically under notice for allegedly contaminating a spring that runs on the other side of the Prather cabin. But Ned is understandingly frustrated. His spring water still stinks- an odor described as a cross between diesel fuel and permanent-wave solution. (This blogger notes: Having had many permanents in my life, I cannot imagine my water smelling like that.) Ned has supported Big Oil and Gas, he says, but he is angry now. He says the oil and gas commission in Colorado is not doing their job. The Prathers are afraid to drink water even from a new spring provided by the gas companies involved.

Prather is still unsettled about his health as well. He wonders about the effects of the tainted water even now after 16 months. When he drank the water, he had to wait 18 days before he could find out what was in the water! When he got the test results, he was advised to continue to get his blood monitored to check for liver or kidney damage. And another effect is already a fact: His business as an outfitter is done for.

Hunters don't want to stay in a cabin with suspect water or to harvest deer and elk they fear could be drinking contaminated water.

Perhaps the most heartbreaking effect is this: The Prathers say their children and grandchildren no longer want to come to the cabin.

This is the thing. Me and Dollie, we were going to leave this to our grandkids one day.

Read the Denver Post article here.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

The Dimock Story Continues: Another Major Chemical Spill

PressConnects of Greater Binghamton, NY, reported today that between 6,000 and 8,000 gallons of an agent used to stimulate natural gas production LEAKED from a pipe at a drilling operation and contaminated a nearby wetland and stream in Dimock, Susquehanna County, PA, according to the PA Department of Environmental Protection. The spill occurred Wednesday, September 16th, at the Heitsman Well and flowed into Stevens Creek and a nearby wetland. Cabot operates the well. There were two separate spills Wednesday- one in the afternoon (25-50 barrels) and one in the evening (about 140 barrels). An investigation is underway to determine what chemicals were released into the environment. Read the full article here.

September 19th Update from PressConnects.com

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!
WE ARE IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE PEOPLE OF DIMOCK WHO CONTINUE TO SUFFER AT THE HANDS OF CABOT OIL